He studied hard, _____ the exam.

It was your birthday, and you just opened your biggest gift — a smooth silver laptop. You can’t wait to instant-message your friends with the news, but first you have to get rid of your old desktop computer. Do you just throw away the monitor and keyboard in the trash? Not anymore!

Three states, that is, California, Maine, and Maryland, recently passed laws prohibiting people from throwing away electronic waste, or e-waste, includes televisions, computers, and cell phones. Although they don’t make you sick when you use them, they do when they are destroyed, for they contain heavy metals that can be harmful to human bodies. For example, cell phone batteries contain a kind of chemical causing damage to kidneys and deserted computer monitors can damage brains. And flat TV screens may cause injury to the nervous system. Those metals can leak into the ground or give off pollutants when burned.

It is required that e-waste be placed at special sites rather than usual landfills. Several other states are considering similar laws and California is also pushing for a law banning the application of such dangerous substances.

Government officials are not the only people taking aim at e-waste; environmentalists are also urging people to recycle their outdated equipment.

“It is just a waste … to not recycle,” Patrick, an associate professor of occupational and environmental health at university of Iowa, told The Daily Iowan, “Allowing dangerous chemicals to leak into the environment for decades seems irresponsible.”

What Can You Do?

Reduce. Be a responsible shopper, and take care of your electronics so they will last longer.

Re-use. Donate or sell your old high-tech equipment.

Recycle. To find a responsible recycler, contact a local or state environmental group.

1.What’s the best title of this passage?

A．E-waste is being made good use of.

B．E-waste, a big threat to us.

C．E-waste is dangerous to us all the while.

D．Goodbye, e-waste.

2.Why is e-waste harmful and dangerous to human beings?

A．Because they can go off at times and threaten us.

B．Because they can make people sick, as long as people use them.

C．Because they contain poisonous chemical substances.

D．Because they take too much space when placed in trashes.

3.What can we know from Patrick’s words?

A．Waste can’t be recycled.

B．Waste can be made use of by recycling

C．We have to recycle e-waste to protect the environment.

D．Protecting the environment is important.

4.Which of the following is NOT given as a piece of advice to help with e-wastes?

A．Taking care of your electronics so they will last longer.

B．Donating or selling your old high-tech equipment.

C．Contacting a local or state environmental group.

D．Asking fewer people to use electric products.

E
“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,” says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie's opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing. “If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,” she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. “I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,” she says. “This love goes back to early childhood. I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said ‘Nonsense, Mollie, dear, you’ll be a writer.’ So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.”
This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免地)brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields—sadly now covered with modern houses.“I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,”she said. “Never.”“When I set one of my books in Scotland,”she said,“I can recall my romantic (浪漫的) feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.”
57. What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?
A. It should not aim at a narrow audience.
B. It should not be attractive to young readers.
C. It should be based on original ideas.
D. It should not include too much conversation.
58. In Mollie Hunter's opinion, which of the following is one sign of a poor writer?
A. Being poor in life experience.        B. Being short of writing skills.
C. The weakness of description.           D. The absence of a story.
59. What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child?
A. She didn't expect to become a writer.         B. She didn't enjoy writing stories.
C. She didn't have any particular ambitions.   D. She didn't respect her teacher's views.
60. What's the writer's purpose in this text?
A. To describe Mollie Hunter's most successful books.
B. To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter's books.
C. To introduce Mollie Hunter's work to a wider audience.
D. To provide information for Mollie Hunter's existing readers.

When Rikke Dausen in Denmark goes to get some milk from the fridge,she has trouble getting past the refrigerator door.But it’s not because of any physical obstruction（障碍）.It’s usually because the PC monitor in her refrigerator’s door has informed her that a new e-mail message has arrived.Rikke and her husband are taking part in a six-month test sponsored（赞助） by a Danish firm and two Swedish partners.They hope to show that computers can be put to much more practical daily use than most people think.Fifty families and singles were provided with a free model known as the “Screenfridge” for the period of the test.?

“It’s really very clever,”says Rikke.She can call up e-mail,news reports,sales items at the supermarket or addresses out of the endless ocean of Internet possibilities.“I’m not the type who wants to sit in front of the computer and wait 10 minutes for the modem to connect,”she says.The creators of the Screenfridge aim at this type of buyer.They think that the machine should attract people who have limited time to solve technical problems or surf online.The PC that is built into the door is very small.It is only two centimeters wide,and completely silent.Everything moves quickly,as Rikke admits.Well,the whole thing is really just an amusement,she says.But when the thing is gone after the test,it will be a pain to have to go down in the basement again to download my e-mail.

1.The writer gives a description of Rikke using the Screenfridge in order to _____.

A.report Rikke’s daily life?

B.prove the value of PC?

C.introduce the new product?

D.describe the modern life?

2.For what purpose is the Screenfridge made??

A.To improve the e-mail service.?

B.To help those who cannot use computers.?

C.To make refrigerators more useful.?

D.To make people believe computers can be used for more practical daily use.?

3.How long will Rikke probably use the Screenfridge??

A.For several months.?

B.For several years.?

C.For more than a year.?

D.For several hours.?

4.From what Rikke says at the end of the text we can feel that she _____.?

A.is sorry she has to download her e-mail in the basement?

B.wishes she would continue to use the Screenfridge?

C.is not satisfied with the Screenfridge?

D.doubts whether she can really depend on the Screenfridge

“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,”says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie’s opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing, “If you aren’t telling a story, you’re a very dead writer indeed.”she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. “I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,”she says. “This love goes back to early childhood. I’ve told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them. I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said‘Nonsense, Mollie; dear, you’ll be a writer.’So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.”
This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical (自传体的)and gives a picture both of Mollie’s ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免的)brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields-sadly now covered with modern houses. “I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I’ll never go back,”she said.“Never.”“When I set one of my books in Scotland,”she said,“I can recall my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that’s important, because children now know so much so early that romance can’t exist for them, as it did for us.”
【小题1】 What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?